On the Colbert Report, Pussy Riot members said simply, (getting ironic laughs), “We have different ideas about a bright future and we don’t want a shirtless man on a horse leading us there.” They also indicated their activism had shifted to prison reform and freedom for activists still imprisoned in Russia, now that they have been freed to appease Western pressure on Putin. “We’d much rather work on freeing the people who are still in jail for… standing up for freedom, and while this is happening, no PR stunt can fix Russia’s image.”

The activists came to the US as part of a world tour to look at American prisons, to talk with human rights activists, and to perform in activist concerts. “Anyone can be in Pussy Riot,” they said — inspiring Colbert to break character, and don a yellow mask in support of the movement.

It is a desperately important solidarity during the controversies and nationalist hype of the Sochi Olympics, intentionally staged and advertised as propogandistic leadership, bread and circuses to make Russia look stable, powerful and controlled. But activists like Pussy Riot, and other less dramatic protestors against Putin’s culture wars, demonstrate that even violent state control is limited, when citizens are willing to stand up for their rights, risking their lives in a fluid, “leaderless” movement.